The Science Olympiad team will compete at the University of Michigan Invitational (UMI) on Feb. 14. The competition has 23 events that will cover all STEM areas. Each contestant competes in three to five events of their choice.

Because the invitational has national-level competition, club member Ben Lu (11) does not have the highest expectations. However, he is optimistic that some of his teammates will place.

“We always have a couple of people that are guaranteed [to] place,” Lu said. 

Lu placed 4th in astronomy and 6th in remote sensing with his teammate, Jacob Drexler (11), at the Haslett Invite on Jan. 24. Due to the heightened competition at UMI, the team is less likely to achieve similar results. However, they plan to use the tournament as practice.

“We hope to use it as practice for Regionals but also as a big invitational,” Drexler said. “It uses the state [tournament] rules, and a lot of national competitors fly in.” 

 After UMI, they will continue to practice for regionals in late March, and from there, qualify to state, which will be held at MSU in April.